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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622291">A Woman's Touch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_MiriamLanning2/pseuds/Dr_MiriamLanning2'>Dr_MiriamLanning2</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mulan (1998)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Mulan is a stealth master, Rescue Missions, Shang is also freakishly strong, Teamwork, They really work well together, light banter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:01:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_MiriamLanning2/pseuds/Dr_MiriamLanning2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes a woman is the right man for the job. When Shang is captured by a guild of bandits on their way to fight the huns, someone needs to go rescue him- and who better than the person who has literally been stealthing it up since she arrived? (I know it's not exactly the same, but go with it)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fa Mulan | Hua Mulan/Li Shang (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Woman's Touch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The halls were quiet as my feet brought me closer to the door. I slithered towards it, my back firmly pressed against the wall, my body hidden in the shadows. Two guards stood on either side of the great wooden door, enormous spears gripped in their meaty hands. At the moment, I was invisible to them. Not for the first time, I thanked the ancestors for the black robes I had found in the storage tent. But, black robes or no black robes, all too quickly they would spot me and my stealth would be spoiled. </p><p>I paused in the hall, hiding in the narrow cavity of a doorway to assess the situation. I could not take the guards head on; their strength greatly overpowered mine and they could call for more guards. No, I had to take them out before they had a chance to cause any trouble.</p><p>My hand lifted to my back, my fingers brushing against the smooth wood of my bow and hesitating. I knew I only had a few arrows left, but I could not see another way to get past the guards. </p><p>Slowly, to not attract attention, I pulled the bow and an arrow from my back. I carefully fitted it to the string, and pulled it taut. The bow creaked as I filled it with tension, shattering the silence. My heart froze as the guards twitched, their eyes scanning the darkness for the cause of the sound. In a matter of seconds, they would find me, and all would be lost. I had no time to aim, my chance was now. </p><p>Before their eyes could land on me I let my first arrow loose. It lodged with satisfying quickness into the soft skin of his neck, choking his cry of surprise. His colleague started in shock at the sight of his stricken companion, but before he could protect himself my second arrow soared straight to his heart. They both slumped to the floor together, and before their bodies hit the ground I was already five paces from the door. </p><p>The first one I had killed had the keys on his belt, and hardly stopping in my approach I stooped down and snatched them from his belt. Without pause I plunged the first key I found in the lock, and to my immense surprise the door clicked open.</p><p>Sliding inside, I silently pulled the door closed behind me. The clock was ticking now, and I had no time to be cautious. A door was at the end of a short hallway, and I strode confidently towards it. The same key worked for this door as well, and opened it without a sound.</p><p>Sitting with his back to me, his head bowed low, was the Captain. His hands were bound behind his back, his crimson cape in a crumpled heap on the ground. Judging by the fact that he had not moved upon my arrival, I guessed he was asleep, and silently I approached him.</p><p>The sound of slow, deep breathing confirmed my guess, and a slow grin stretched on my face from behind my mask.</p><p>Drawing myself up behind him, I simultaneously wrapped an arm around his chest and cupped my hand over his mouth.</p><p>His entire body jumped as I startled him awake, and a muffled gasp split the room.</p><p>"Hush, Captain," I whispered in his ear. "You are in no danger."</p><p>I ran my hand around his chest to where my dagger was strapped to my hip. I slid it from its sheath and sawed quickly through the ropes binding his hands.</p><p>I took a step back once his hands were free, unsure if he would attack me. I had witnessed the fierce side of him that took control when situations went south, and was well acquainted with what could happen when he was surprised.</p><p>As I expected, he leapt up from his chair and whirled around, his hands ready to attack. His black eyes were full of a dangerous fire that I had never seen before- I knew without a doubt he was completely capable of killing me. Fear began to trickle down my spine and the instinct to run burned in my legs, but I stood my ground. To run would be to admit guilt. So, I planted my feet and stared into those eyes that blazed for my blood. </p><p>But when his eyes registered what was before him, the fire dimmed. Then, it simmered into suspicion.</p><p>"Who are you?" he asked quietly, his voice low and lifeless. He was thinking, trying to understand his situation, and becoming all the more confused as his eyes took in my obviously female figure. And surprised, for that matter. He obviously had not been expecting to be rescued by a woman.</p><p>"A friend," I replied simply, watching him carefully. He didn't have a sword, but if he suspected any treachery I knew that a weapon was optional. "That is all you need to know."</p><p>His eyes narrowed. "Why have you come?"</p><p>"Your men need you."</p><p>He seemed taken aback by my reply, and his face softened somewhat.</p><p>"Honestly, I had somewhat expected a siege by now," he admitted with a mirthless chuckle. He may have had a smile on his face, but his eyes were deadly serious. His hands slowly dropped to his side, and I knew that the moment had come where he would decide if he could trust me.</p><p>However, we did not have time for his shrewdness, and I could just feel the entire fortress stirring.</p><p>"Well," I said, spreading my arms wide, "here's your siege, she's leaving now. Would you care to join me?"</p><p>Again, surprise flitted across his face at my flippant tone. For a terrible moment, I feared he would become angry with my careless attitude and lash out. But a tiny glimmer of excitement flickered in his eyes, and a grin pulled at one corner of his mouth.</p><p>"Let's go," he said with a nod, gesturing at the door. We strode towards it and I wrenched it open. His sword, belt, and dagger had been carelessly left on a small wooden table, and we crossed the room to it.</p><p>"Here," I tossed him his sword and belt, and he caught it effortlessly. With his belt fastened, I handed him his dagger and he slid it into his belt. I watched him very carefully, just in case he had been bluffing about trusting me and tried to attack me when my defenses were lowered, but once his gear was in place, he strode quietly toward the door. He slowly opened the door, peered outside, and opened it wider.</p><p>"You are a good shot," he told me, his eyes raking over the dead guards by the door. My arrows shone dully in the dim light, and I stepped forward to snatch them from the bodies. They were valuable, and since it was safe for me to pause to retrieve them, I wiped the blood on their coarse clothing and returned them to my sheath.</p><p>"Swords are heavy," I shrugged as we continued down the hall. "Arrows aren't."</p><p>Silence fell between us, since it was too dangerous to engage in a conversation. We didn't know where the other guards lurked, and my escape route was still a task to be dealt with. I had slipped through the courtyards and rooms using stealth. But where I was small, slender, and clad in black, he was tall, broad, and clothed in his white and brown uniform. We could not expect to slip under cover as I had, so we would have to try another approach.</p><p>We finally came upon the courtyard that would descend to the waterfall entrance. Just as before, it was full of both slumbering and alert guards. But there was no way both of us were going to skirt the walls like I had.</p><p>"There," I whispered, pointing to the small door at the other end. "That is our way out."</p><p>His eyes narrowed as he took in the courtyard, and all its guards.</p><p>"Some have fallen asleep since I came in, but it is still a lot of men to deal with," I continued, expressing my concerns.</p><p>His brow furrowed, and I sighed because I knew he finally grasped the problem.</p><p>Then he looked down at me.</p><p>"You made it past all those guards?" he asked in confusion.</p><p>I rolled my eyes. Was that all he had gathered from my words?</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>His eyebrows raised and he nodded to himself. "Impressive," he said, then just as casually, "We will climb the roof, and scale down the wall."</p><p>I almost missed it. He had said it so simply, so off-handedly, he could have been telling me his dinner plans for the evening. I followed his eyes and scanned the roof and the wall. It would be a bit tricky, but it could be done. I smiled in wonder. He really was a brilliant strategist.</p><p>“And you figured that out from just a glance?” I countered. “Impressive.”</p><p>He didn’t answer, but the smirk he sent me as he crept toward the closest pillar said everything. </p><p>"Do you need a lift?" he asked, readying himself to help me up the pillar.</p><p>I shot him a glare, and without a word leapt up onto the railing and propelled myself up onto the ledge of the roof.</p><p>From my crouch on the shingles I smirked down at his dumbstruck face. Then my heart froze.</p><p>Too late I realized what I had just done. That was the way he had taught us in camp to climb a building. The way he had painstakingly showed to us over and over again until we could all do it. I had basically just used one of his signature moves to get up to the roof.</p><p>I watched his eyes harden, and my stomach clenched. Did he realize that I had been there when he taught it? Would he figure out who I was?</p><p>But in the next moment he was up on the roof next to me as if it had never happened.</p><p>"Shall we?" he asked with a quirk in his brow. For a moment all I could do was stare. I had never imagined our serious, determined captain to be such a playful person.<br/>
I flashed my eyes at him and took off across the roof, my steps making hardly a sound on the clay tiles. He followed closely behind me, and we ran like shadows to the wall.</p><p>Just as we reached the corner of the courtyard, our luck ran out.</p><p>As we rounded the corner leading to the last stretch of roof before the wall, his foot came down too hard on a tile, and with a heart-wrenching crack, it shattered and tumbled away to the ground.</p><p>Our bodies seemed frozen as we watched the tile soar to its loud, silence-shattering end on the ground below. The sharp sound split the quiet of the courtyard, and suddenly every head of every soldier snapped to look at us.</p><p>There was a moment of mutual shock, then all hell broke loose.</p><p>"GET THEM!"</p><p>Shouts rang out and arrows were suddenly thick in the air.</p><p>"Go!" I cried, grabbing his arm and dragging him along behind me. We were flying across the rooftop, both of us cracking tiles and slipping with every step. The arrows whizzed behind us and in front of us, and though every instinct in me screamed for me to stop and duck I just kept my head low and ran forward.</p><p>The edge of the roof loomed up before us, and the wall below it. Relief surged through me, knowing we were almost safe.</p><p>Then it occurred to me that we would have no time to scale down the wall.</p><p>And it must have been thirty feet high.</p><p>"Shang!" I yelled, my eyes widening and my grip tightening on his arm.</p><p>"I see it!" he hollered back, and I didn't need to look at him to know he was stressed. My eyes were wide as I tried to find a way out, but they were coming up empty. The edge was rapidly coming up, with the sheer drop at the end of it.</p><p>"Get ready!" he shouted, the sudden confidence in his voice causing me to stare at him. An exhilarated grin alighted his face, and I knew he was crazy.</p><p>"For what?" I demanded, my eyes darting between him and the edge. Then my eyes fell on a pole I had not noticed earlier. A pole with a rope stretching down to another at the base of the waterfall.</p><p>"Hold on!" he cried, and he didn't need to tell me twice. Our steps came to a screeching halt at the edge. Before my momentum could carry me over, however, his strong arm latched around my waist and we jumped off the roof.</p><p>We jerked in the air as he caught a hook and a grunt ripped out of him as the weight of us put a tremendous amount of pressure on his shoulder. But his grip held, and we soared down toward the top of the waterfall. A patch of land was just beyond the edge of the river, and I knew we were heading for that. We could drop from the rope and pick our way down the rest of the ledge-</p><p>Without warning, a horrible snap sliced through my thoughts, and the next second we were rocketing toward the river below. I didn't even have time to scream before I crashed into the water.</p><p>Cold, forceful water enveloped me like a frigid beast and I was immediately dragged further under the water. Rather than struggle, I shoved my arms out to become buoyant and let myself float to the surface.</p><p>Finally I burst through the water, gasping for breath and fighting to not be pulled under again. My mask fortunately had not shifted from my face, and I knew my identity would be safe. The river tossed me back and forth, but I managed to keep my head above the water as I looked around for a sign of Shang. The dark water churned and foamed, and all I could see was the waves and crests of the river around me.</p><p>Suddenly a figure burst through the surface, his mouth wide open to fill his lungs with air. Immediately he scanned the river for me, and what could only have been described as relief flashed across his face as he made his way toward me.</p><p>Then his face blanched.</p><p>It was apparent he was trying to call my name, but I hadn't given it to him. He opened his mouth to shout, but had no words, and was finally able to call out:</p><p>"Behind you!"</p><p>The fear in his voice was more unsettling than anything I'd encountered. He was never frightened. Never.</p><p>Filled with icy dread, I swirled myself around and gasped.</p><p>Just ahead, dragging me ever closer, was the seething edge of the waterfall.</p><p>My heart stopped. I knew how high that drop was.</p><p>Shang was closer to the shore, but there was no way I could make it before going over. Frantically I searched around me for anything to grab, anything to prevent plummeting to my death. Nothing. Not a branch, not a rope, not anything. I looked back at Shang, only to find the river empty of his bobbing form. Confusion surged through me, and then the world was falling.</p><p>My stomach dropped as the water suddenly crashed down on me, not even having time to think before I was surrounded by water. The severe sharpness of assisted falling yanked at my body, and I flung my hand up to try and grab something, anything to stop my rapid descent-</p><p>It did.</p><p>My hand grabbed something- or rather, something grabbed my hand.</p><p>I was still under water, but the fact that the water was no longer pulling my downward returned freedom to my body. My head ripped through the surface and air slapped against my face. I sucked it in greedily, hungrily, trying to force air into my lungs.</p><p>Once the water was out of my eyes, I looked up.</p><p>The odd sight of Shang suspended above me with his hand outstretched sent confusion surging through me, along with surprise. I followed his outstretched hand and realized it was what had caught me, and I realized the tight expression on his face was one of pain. The other end of the rope was cutting into his other hand, and I knew in that moment he must have felt like he was being ripped in two.</p><p>He couldn't even speak, but his face spoke volumes. <em>I have you</em>, it said. <em>Just hold on</em>. And I believed him.</p><p>With a rattling yell, he tightened his muscles and I was slowly being pulled up the current. Instinctually I reached up my hands as he pulled me closer to him, and once he was within my reach I grabbed his belt. I wrapped my hands around his waist, clinging to him for dear life and positioning my face to where it was out of the rushing water.</p><p>I gasped as my mouth was no longer submerged in the water, feeling my head spin as oxygen flooded in. I could feel his body trembling with the effort of lifting us both up against the tremendous force of the waterfall. His strength shocked me, but I was too shaken to do anything but cling to his waist and gasp.</p><p>We reached the edge of the waterfall and were plunged under the water again, but after a moment, Shang’s grip on the rope was strong. Using both arms he pulled us toward the riverbank, one shuddering grasp at a time. Finally, we were close enough for both of us to take hold and in a strangely unified action, we heaved ourselves out of the seizing water and collapsed on the rough grass of the riverbank. </p><p>Never in my life had I been so happy to be lying on the ground, gazing up at the sky as I heaved air into my lungs. The world was spinning above me as my head tried to right itself, and even the roar of the falls was drowned out by the sound of our ragged panting. A dull, throbbing ache spread through my body, but it didn't bother me. It simply meant that I was alive.</p><p>Slowly I sat up, avoiding a headache, and wiped the water from my eyes. Somehow, my mask was not swept away by the torrents, and only my hair had slipped out of the cloth that bound it. My identity was safe.</p><p>"Are you alright?"</p><p>I looked over to find Shang also sitting, his clothes clinging to his body like a second skin and his hair hanging in long strands over his brow. He was looking at me in concern, but I did not miss the exhilarated glint in his eyes. Just like me, he was happy to be alive.</p><p>I nodded. "Yes," I replied, still trying to catch my breath. A grin quirked my mouth. "Now we're even."</p><p>He threw his head back and laughed, a wonderful sound that echoed off the rocks. He looked back at me fondly, and I found myself growing more and more surprised at this new side of my Captain. It was unnerving, but at the same time… </p><p>He stood to his feet with a groan and held out his hand to me. I took it and let him pull me to my feet.</p><p>"The way to the camp is down that pass," I said, gesturing to the path that led down the waterfall. "Your men will be anxiously fretting about, and might try to attack you if you don't identify yourself," I said, rolling my eyes at the disarray that had gripped the camp due to his absence.</p><p>He frowned, and I thought it was because of my report about his men until he spoke.</p><p>"You will not accompany me back?"</p><p>He took a step toward me. His question was quiet and struck me silent. Was that really what was worrying him?</p><p>I shook my head. That would be disastrous. As much as I suddenly wanted to, I could not risk being that close to people who would recognize me. And the fact that a woman was the one who saved him could tarnish his reputation. I couldn't believe he wasn't trying to shoo me away before his triumphant return to camp.</p><p>"This is where I leave you, Captain," I said softly, suddenly regretting my words. I did not want to leave him, but I had no choice. I, too, had to get back to camp before anyone noticed my absence.</p><p>Without another word I turned on my heel and strode up the hill.</p><p>His hand gripped my arm.</p><p>Rather than wrenching my arm from his grip, I paused and turned, allowing his grip to slide down and rest around my hand.</p><p>"If you will not accompany me back," he began quietly, his eyes twinkling, "may I at least leave here with your name?"</p><p>My breath caught in my throat. Of course I could not tell him my name! It would ruin me, ruin everything I had fought for and permanently dishonor my family.</p><p>But his hand was so warm against my skin, I was having difficulty thinking. My name was not common, but as long as it was not paired with my full name it could not be traced back to my family. He was begging me for something to take with him after our meeting, and I slowly realized I could not deny him.</p><p>"Mulan," I said slowly, my mind reeling at the sound of my own name escaping me in front of my captain. I squeezed my eyes shut to rid myself of the feeling, and when I opened them I found him with an elated expression.</p><p>Before he could reply, I quickly withdrew my hand from his and ran up the pass, leaving my wonderful captain and my name behind me.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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